Japan’s largest airline, All Nippon Airways (ANA) has restarted its direct flights to Yangon which is Myanmar’s capital on October 15, 2012. The direct flights to Yangon have been restarted, after a gap of about 12 years, and has also renewed the interest of tourism in the fast reforming nation.
The Japan based carrier, while announcing the restart of the flights, said that the number of business travelers and tourists to Myanmar have increased. Myanmar which was once a pariah state, has in recent times introduced a raft of democratic reforms as it opens up to the world.
ANA had earlier suspended flights to Myanmar in the year 2000, due to political instability in the country. The airline has now said that it will fly three flights a week between Tokyo’s Narita Airport and Yangon, which is Myanmar’s largest city.
Shinichiro Ito, the President of ANA on Monday said, “Myanmar has high potential for economic growth. A lot of Japanese firms have already decided to make inroads into Myanmar and many others are planning to do so”. Apart from ANA , other airlines like Dragonair and Singapore Airlines have also announced plans to introduce regular flights to Yangon. Myanmar has been through drastic changes in the past one year.
